Make your launch count: the Biz Alternative playbook
Use this Biz Alternative page as a checklist. Each stage has a few steps, and each step says why it matters.
Ahead of the launch
Fill in every part of the page
Fill the gaps before launch day: description, features, FAQs and your founder profile, with a photo and at least one personal link.
Add clear screenshots
Pick screenshots that show the main thing your product does. Keep them current and readable, and add a brief demo video if you can.
Time it well
Plan your launch for a week with room in it. You will want time to answer questions and thank people.
Let people know early
Draft your launch post and a short email before the day. Let the people who already know the product hear about it first.
Going live
Write to your users
Email your list with the launch link. For the week, add a line and the launch image to the welcome email new users receive.
Post it everywhere you are
Put the listing link in a short post on each network you use, pin it, and point your profile link at it for launch week.
Join the conversation
Respond to every comment, on your listing and wherever you shared it. Short, honest answers are fine.
Use communities you belong to
Choose a few relevant communities, check their rules on self-promotion and post as yourself. Show HN is for things people can try.
Share the launch and let people judge it. Votes cannot be bought, one person has one vote, and extra accounts or vote exchanges are not allowed.
Launch week
Follow up your first post
Mid-week, write a short LinkedIn follow-up: what surprised you, what you are fixing next, and the link.
Pick more places to launch
Spread your launch over the directories that match your product. Compare them before you pay for any of them.
Embed the badge
Put the badge on your homepage or footer. It is a simple way to send visitors to your listing.
Refine your listing
Questions from launch day show what the page is missing. Add those answers and update anything out of date.
Once the week ends
Keep the page up to date
Treat the page as part of your website: when your product or pricing changes, update it too.
Relaunch later
Relaunch after a major release or a milestone. Lead with what is new since the first launch.
Measure what happened
Check your own analytics for each place you shared, and note what worked for next time. Tag your links before you post them.
Launch directories, compared
Compare your options on Best Launch Directories, which lists launch directories by kind with their Domain Rating, pricing and link type.
Want a hand with your launch?
Optional, and only if they suit you: the extras Biz Alternative sells, with what each one is and what it costs.
- Featured launch $19
7 days as the homepage's Featured listing from your launch week, labelled Featured. It is never a vote.
- Multi-site bundle $99
Write it once and we do the rest: live on the other 49 launch and discovery sites, reworded site by site, with every later edit flowing to all of them automatically.
- Done-for-you listing $149.99
We place your listing on 49 other launch and discovery sites, each with a description of its own, and email you the links once they are live.
- Start page perch $49
For 7 days the Sponsored slot on the homepage shows your company, logo, tagline and a link to your website.
- Category perch $19
For 7 days your company tops your listing's category page, labelled Sponsored.
- Newsletter perch $29
Your company in the Sponsored place of one issue of the weekly newsletter.
- Billboard from $5
The Billboard is ordered by money contributed and nothing else, with the biggest total at the top. It is kept apart from votes.
- Product review $19
A structured review of your product built from your public website and your listing, shown on your listing and labelled as commissioned by the maker. It is never a vote or a rating.
- Editorial founder feature $29
An article about the founder from the facts you gave, edited by one of our editors. Nothing in it is made up.
Prices are in US dollars; VAT is added where it is due.
Questions
- Can friends and colleagues vote for my product?
- Invite people to look and vote if they like it. Votes can never be bought, and using extra accounts or vote-trading groups is not allowed.
- When should I tell people about my launch?
- On the day you launch, then once more in the same week with fresh news, so people who missed it can catch up.
- Which other launch directories should I use?
- Use the directories that suit your category, not every one you can find. Compare them on price and link type before paying.
- What next, once the week ends?
- Check your own analytics to see what worked, keep the listing up to date, and launch again after your next big update.
Keep this page handy for launch day. The Biz Alternative help centre has the details on each step. Open the help centre